‘Kabali’ earns Rs 40 crore on Day 1, highest ever

Chennai, July 23

Rajinikanth’s “Kabali” has grossed over Rs 40 crore at the Indian box office, beating Salman Khan starrer Bollywood drama “Sultan” to emerge as the highest grossing Indian film on the opening day, according to estimates by trade pundits.

“Salman’s ‘Sultan’ minted Rs 36.5 crore from the domestic box office as opposed to Rs 40 crore of ‘Kabali’. Despite mixed reviews, ‘Kabali’ managed to rake in more money because it was released in three languages,” a leading producer-distributor said. It released on Friday in Tamil, and was also dubbed in Hindi and Telugu apart from other languages.

“In Tamil Nadu, ‘Kabali’ collected a whopping Rs 21.5 crore from its first day. Since the film was exempt from entertainment tax, it managed to register such a big opening,” said trade analyst Trinath. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Telugu dubbed version raked in Rs 13.5 crore.

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The movie, which had reportedly minted Rs 200 crore from its pre-release business, is also on a winning spree in North America.

“It is easily the best opening for an Indian film from premiere shows in North America. The film has collected $2 million from the premiere shows and it includes both the Tamil and Telugu versions of ‘Kabali’,” said Sanjay Dusari, co-founder of CineGalaxy Inc. — IANS